No fewer than 46 Nigerian students in tertiary institutions across the country have emerged the first set of beneficiaries as the Renewed Hope Initiative, an initiative of Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, flags off the National Scholarship Programme for Tertiary Education.
The beneficiaries were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, while others were nominated by various women societies, including National Council for Women Societies, and Defence Staff and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA).
At the ceremony held in the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, the First Lady congratulated the beneficiaries, noting that the gesture is part of efforts by the initiative to ensure that no willing student is left behind.
“With the National Scholarship Programme (NASP), we envision a Nigeria where every child, regardless of their circumstances, can access the best education available. It is not just about textbooks and classrooms, it is about igniting curiosity, speaking innovation and fostering a love of learning that will transcend generations.
“The inaugural National Scholarship Programme of the Renewed Hope Initiative is a four-year scholarship programme of One Million Naira per year and a laptop for each beneficiary. Today, we are empowering 46 students from across the states.”
While urging the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously as their GPA will be taken into consideration in subsequent years, the First Lady also encouraged them to take on vocational skills.
RHI Director of Education, Prof Hafsat Ganduje, in an address of welcome, identified intervention in education as one of the five pillars of the initiative.
The ceremony was attended by Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu and Minister of State for the FCT, Mariya Mahmood.
Meanwhile, a total of 370 farmers across the country are also billed to benefit from the intervention of Renewed Hope Initiative in the agricultural sector.
The intervention would see the distribution of seedlings, pesticides and fertilizers to between 15 to 20 farmers per state, making up a total of 370. This was one of the key resolutions at the meeting of zonal coordinators of the initiative with the National President and convener of the initiative.
Other interventions in the sector include a proposal to encourage the establishment of farm markets in strategic locations and home gardens among Nigerians towards facilitating easy access to fresh farm produce.
In health, another key intervention area for the initiative, a partnership with the UNICEF to streamline and sanitise the process of birth registration is being worked out. The same partnership is also to be explored to promote immunisation towards stamping out polio.
The First Lady called on the Zonal coordinators to be at the vanguard of the process in their respective domains, urging all of them to be part of the immunisation process Zonal coordinators of the RHI are drawn from among state governors’ wives in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
TheGuardian
